In the future I have a vision of where ecological services such as natural water filtration are protected from the control of corporations or privatization. Having a market be the only ones in control of the protection of natural would leave the ecological service vulnerable to a change in the ideals for the market.
If it is no longer profitable for the service to be protected it could then be exploited and degraded. We must ensure that our ecological services are protected and have multiple organizations and government body regulating them to ensure they continue in providing the services for generations to come.
The big question of how will we get there is still up in the air. First education of the general public on ecosystem services is required to highlight the importance of them and to bring on the next generation of ecological service protection stewards. Then action must be taken to lobby for support of protecting known ecological services and having government bodies regulating them. Lastly, any services that are controlled by corporations for profit should be given an immediate cease order to evaluate any damages or protection being done. Afterwards the government should at a minimum take control of the management and regulation.
Using the example of Nestle's usage of Strawberry Creek in California, 45M gallons of water were siphoned out of the creek to be bottled in 2015. This has drastic impacts on the provisioning aspects of environmental services. This siphoning of water left the creek depleted and had cascading impacts on local wildlife and other park users. This should serve as a cautionary tale as the US forest services did issue permits to the Nestle company. Even with a governing body giving out permits there needs to be further regulation to prevent ecological services from being exploited/ depleted.